Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which occurs world-wide and afflicts millions of people, is the collective term used to describe several gastrointestinal disorders of unknown etiology: Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and Indeterminate Colitis (IC). IBD, Celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) will affect one-half of all Americans during their lifetimes, at a cost of several billion dollars. A primary determinant of these high medical costs is the difficulty of diagnosing digestive diseases. The cost associated with IBD and IBS is compounded by lost productivity, with persons suffering from these disorders missing an average of at least eight more days of work annually than persons not suffering from these disorders.
Symptoms associated with IBD, CD, UC, IC and IBS include, e.g., abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, rectal bleeding, weight loss and cramping. These symptoms occur in very similar forms in IBD (i.e., CD or UC or IC), as well as in irritable bowel syndrome or other non-IBD bowel diseases. This makes a definitive diagnosis of IBD, CD or UC extremely difficult. In fact, only about one-tenth of the several million people suspected of suffering from CD are actually diagnosed with the disease.
The difficulty in differentially diagnosing IBD or CD from other digestive diseases like IBS hampers early and effective treatment of these diseases. In addition, Crohn's disease does not have a constant appearance. It varies according to locations, behaviors, severities and activities.